Stickers + Humans = Connection
A little piece of sticky paper can wield more power than you might think.
When was the last time you were asked “Would you like a sticker?”
If you’re like most adults I encounter, the answer is probably “I don’t know…”
A few months ago I was cleaning my apartment and found a package of Hello Kitty stickers. I can’t remember why or when I bought them, but they sat in a notebook unused for years. I started carrying them around and offering them to baristas, cashiers, my yoga students, servers, children, and even random strangers with whom I’d started conversations.
On rare occasion, someone will decline.
But the vast majority of people accept with enthusiasm! They’ve been added to name badges, water bottles, sketch journals, hats, hands, cheeks, shirts and cash registers. Establishments that carry their own stickers will often enter a reciprocal sticker exchange, and I’ve even gotten free fries when everyone behind the counter at a fast food restaurant joined the sticker party!
Sometimes the practice goes way beyond what I would imagine a simple sticker could do.
When checking into a hotel on a road trip, a glitter sticker that said “joy” brought tears to the clerk’s eyes. They confided that they were having a particularly rough season of life and had just started working with a therapist. A sticky piece of plastic transformed a transactional exchange of retrieving a room key into something that transcended both of our expectations.
Giving out stickers reminds me how every interaction with another person is an opportunity for real human connection. And a quick and approachable way to get there is by simply taking the initiative to break our habitual patterns.
You don’t need to go buy a package of stickers to create opportunities for conversation (although you certainly could!). Mixing things up can be as simple as replacing the perfunctory “how are you” / “good” exchange with a genuine question.
What does your curiosity draw you to about a person? Perhaps it’s their hat, a piece of jewelry, or their hearty laugh. Maybe the store is unique in some way, or there’s an odd song on the radio.
Whether or not you start handing out stickers, I suggest we remember that we are always leaders by the way we act, converse and engage with others.
When we lead with a desire to connect, we have the opportunity to open ourselves up to others in a genuine way. And they have the opportunity to open back. You never know just how impactful a kind word, an oddball sticker, or a wacky interaction can create a ripple effect in someone’s life.